Private Services Conducted for Former Rep. Traficant

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Private services were held for James A. Traficant Jr., the former congressman and Mahoning County sheriff who died Saturday from injuries sustained in an accident last Tuesday at his daughter’s farm in Greenford.

According to the obituary, posted at the website of Rossi Bros. & Lellio Funeral Home, which handled the arrangements, there were no calling hours and the notice does not cite plans for any kind of public commemoration, though area various media outlets report a family spokeswoman say an event is being planned in the next 30 days. He was 73.

Among his survivors are his wife, Patricia “Tish” (Choppa) Traficiant; his two daughters, Elizabeth (John) Chahine and Robin O’Grady; and several grandchildren and other relatives. The full obituary may be viewed here.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who served alongside Traficant for several years while both represented Ohio districts in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflected on the tragedy of Traficant’s death at a “relatively young age” while at an event in Warren yesterday morning.  

Elected to Congress in 1984, Traficant served in the House of Representatives until July 2002, when he was expelled following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges. He served seven years in federal prison.

“No one spoke out more aggressively for things he cared about and how and for people he fought for,” Brown recalled.

The senator also remembered campaigning with him. “You just never quite knew what he was going to say or what he was going to do,” he said. “Sometimes just he’d put his arm around you and you didn’t know what was going to happen then.”

Traficant “bigger than life and he had a personality that filled up the room in just an unusual way you don’t see much in public life or anywhere else,” he added. 

Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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